Respawn
by Adrian T. Starke
Summary: Mistral Deveaux, a Pilot of the Frontier Militia, a Generation 2 soldier. With no memory of who she once was, she attempts to find herself in the midst of a massive shift in the IMC's tactics. Mysteries surround her, both internal and external, and what little control she has over her life begins to slip away. Rated M for Sexual content and Language.
1. Chapter 1

Ammunition topped off. Holosight calibrated. Barrel cleaned. Safety engaged. I had checked the rifle for the third time since departing from our ship, the Murder of Crows. The G2A4 was an older rifle, but reliable. It didn't really need to be checked so many times before a mission. Of course, this was more out of habit than anything else. Fighting a war tended to make one overly cautious about such things. Checking my guns always calmed my nerves.

There were five other Pilots in the transport with me. A dark skinned woman with short, black hair, stood near the exit ramp. She was armed with a compact SMG, obviously preferring close quarters combat. An assault soldier sat next to her, popping a clip into the always popular R-101c. In the corner was a sniper who was practically cradling his Kraber. He looked like someone who thoroughly enjoyed popping heads with it. To my left was a Pilot calibrating a Smart Pistol. Each of them was doing some last minute checks on their equipment. They weren't nearly as obsessive about it, of course. In fact, one of them seemed to be rather laid back, almost jovial. She leaned against the wall, a Spitfire at her side. In her full gear, you could hardly even tell that she was a woman at first glance.

And this woman had a reputation. People often referred to her as a Titan Killer. Alex Corman the Titan Killer. She specked her equipment loadout for dealing with Titans without a Titan of her own. There was a rumor that she had actually downed twelve Titans in a single battle, five of which she took out on foot. Of course, the numbers change depending on who you asked. Corman would probably give the largest numbers if you asked her directly. She looked to me as I obsessed over my rifle. I paid the Titan Killer no mind and proceeded to check my weapon for a fourth time.

"How many times you gonna check that?" Her voice was low, husky, and a bit scratchy, yet there was also playfulness in the voice as well. I couldn't see Corman's face, but I could just tell that the woman had a stupid grin on her face.

"As many times as I can before we get there." I could have simply ignored her, but I had a feeling that Corman would have kept pestering me regardless. I decided that humoring her would avert a lot of annoyance.

"Kay. Got a name?" A less annoying question.

"Deveaux."

"Got a first name?"

"Not important." Corman tilted her head up slightly. "Don't."

"What?"

"Just don't."

"Okay. Geez…" For whatever reason, that seemed to get her to stop her line of less than important questioning. To be perfectly honest, I was surprised that she knew 'Deveaux' was in fact my last name. Could have been a lucky guess though. "Haven't seen you around before. Just transfer in?"

That was a legitimate question that I was willing to answer. "Yes. I was cleared for Titan duty a few months ago."

"You any good with one?"

"I've done well in simulations. Can't really say about actual combat." I finished with my rifle and started checking my Autopistol.

"I'll watch your back then."

I rolled my eyes, despite the hint of sincerity she detected in Corman's voice – and the fact you couldn't really see my eyes through my goggles. I wasn't there to be coddled, and I certainly didn't need someone holding my hand. Though, if I had to be honest, the idea of someone watching my back wasn't entirely off-putting. I had not been in a full on Titan engagement at that point, rather doing some covert work. I was good at it, too. I could more than hold my own in a firefight. However, for whatever reason, I wanted to pilot a Titan. Perhaps it was a need to help defend the Frontier rather than just sneak around. Maybe it was the more primal need to get behind the wheel of one of the one of the biggest, meanest war machines created by humankind. The reason didn't really matter right now. I was there, about to drop into a situation where an encounter with IMC forces was extremely likely.

The dark woman, Sargent Morrison, moved from her spot and stood by the MRVN standing in front of the exit ramp. By the way she carried herself, anyone could tell that she was a superior officer, even without knowing her rank. It was actually quite a thing to see. Many Militia soldiers had led rather sordid lives before joining up. Pirates, smugglers, larcenists, even former IMC grunts and Pilots have joined the cause. Seeing someone who truly commanded the respect of those serving under her was a bit uncommon. Of course, with Marcus Graves in command of the Militia, this was beginning to change. Graves was bringing an order that they were sorely lacking.

"Alright, you lot. We've got IMC activity that needs investigatin'." She spoke with slight, but noticeable English accent. "They're out here for a reason and we're gonna find out why."

After the destruction of Demeter and Graves' defection, the IMC's central artificial intelligence Spyglass assumed command. They were being run by a machine. While I considered myself rather open minded about what constituted sentient life, Spyglass was a true machine. All facts and figures. No soul. And it certainly showed in the IMC's tactics. They saw something they wanted, they take it. At least tried to. They were brutal and efficient, more so than when there were more humans at the helm. Graves' defection had provided the Militia with a valuable insight in dealing with Spyglass and the IMC. It worked for a while, but eventually they began adapting to their new situation, being essentially trapped in the Frontier without reinforcements after the destruction of Demeter. They had begun avoiding direct confrontation, opting for more covert operations. It was becoming harder and harder to figure out what the IMC, what Spyglass, was up to. Trying to understand the motivations of a machine that complex is no easy task.

Fortunately, this was a much simpler mission than trying to discern the machinations of a machine mind. Find out what the IMC was up to, then drive them out. Things rarely go quite that smoothly, however. There were many things that could go wrong that would cause the entire mission to go sideways. I try not to think about those things too intently. I prepare myself for them without dwelling on them. Hence the constant checking of my equipment. It takes my mind off things, focusing it on something practical and methodic. With a final motion, I snapped back the slide on my rifle. I was ready.

A brief hiss gave way to a roar of wind as the rear hatch of the drop ship lurched open. The MRVN stood dutifully by the door as the other Pilots and I prepared to make our jump. Morrison jumped first, with the others following suit. Corman and I were the last out, the Titan Killer giving me a brief nod before making her leap. I wasted no time in following her lead.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrenaline turned seconds into minutes. Wind whipped around me as I hurtled towards the ground. The reassuring rushing noise of ionic pulse jets sounds off half way through my descent: my jump kit. The only thing preventing me from being turned into an ugly red stain and a sack of broken bones. Admittedly, it took quite some time to fully trust the device, especially leaping from rather extreme heights. Eventually, moving with it became as natural as breathing. When I hit the ground, it feels like I had jumped down from a ten foot ladder rather than from a drop ship a hundred or so feet in the air. Technology is a wonderful thing.

As soon as my feet touch the solid earth, I was off like a bat out of hell. I sprinted towards the nearest structure: a rundown building, one of many in this all but abandoned colony. A quick leap and burst from my jump kit got me high enough up the wall for me to pull myself through the building's second story window. I kept my momentum going, quickly moving toward another open window, leading out to another building. I was easily able to scale the wall outside, climbing up onto the roof. From there I could see much of the small town, left barren by whoever once lived there. I wondered for a moment what had happened for the inhabitants to abandon it. Then I thought that it was fortunate that there would be no civilian casualties.

A few buildings away, I spotted the sniper, Brody, climbing a radio tower. It took a keen eye to spot him. Not only was he quick, but his tactical cloak and Stealth Jump Kit made him very difficult to spot. A good quality to have when you're a sniper. Although from what I observed from him, he seemed to have a bit of an ego. Not a particularly good trait to have in this line of work.

Adjusting my goggles' zoom, I looked down towards the ground, catching a glimpse of Morrison entering a building with Donnelly, the assault rifle toting soldier. A block away, Jackson was making his way towards an old turret, presumably to hack into it. As he stabbed his data knife into turret's console, he kept a hand on his Smart Pistol, ready to drop what he was doing to defend himself. Professional. I would expect nothing less from a Titan Pilot. Having some heavy fire power on our side would come in handy when the fighting inevitably started.

Another question at the back of my head was why the IMC was even here. There didn't seem to be anything that important. It was just an old abandoned colony town with nothing that really stood out. Then again, looks can be deceiving. There was not a lot of activity, and that worried me. From all indications, it seemed that the IMC had made it there ahead of us. The town was a fairly decent size, spanning a few dozen acres. Doesn't sound very big, but it was big enough for a few small squads to hide quite well. The situation felt wrong, like we were walking right into a trap.

Furthermore, I had lost track of Corman. I quickly scanned the area, trying to spot the Titan Killer in the decrepit husk of a city. It seemed strange that someone with such a heavy loadout could be so stealthy. She was a distraction I couldn't afford, not with a pack of wolves lurking in the woodwork. It didn't take long before I was able to figure out where she was. The sound of 8.19mm light machine-gun fire was a dead giveaway.

"Merde…" My reaction was nearly instantaneous. I sprinted towards the gunfire as fast as my feet could carry me over the low rooftops. In hindsight, I really should have figured it would be Corman who would end up kicking the hornet's nest. She certainly seemed the type to attract trouble.

It didn't take long before IMC forces began to come out of their concealment to close in on Corman. Two squads of grunts rushed her position, or what I assumed was her position. I had yet to actually get eyes on her. Fortunately, the soldiers below had not noticed me. Before they could even have the chance to look up, I took aim at the closest soldier and squeezed the trigger, sending a hunk of lead screaming through the back of his head. By the time the others began to look my direction, I was in the air, and two more fell to my rifle.

When I hit the ground, several of them had managed to turn around and take aim. Just as they began to fire at me, I dove through a window and into a building, leaving behind one of my Arc Grenades, bringing down the three remaining grunts in the group. The second was still making its way to Corman's position, the first having slowed me down enough for them to get ahead.

In my haste, I had initially forgotten that there were four other Pilots in my squad. A loud but distant bang rang through the air, and the head of one the soldiers in the group ahead of me disappeared in a cloud of red mist. Several more fell to a volley of Smart Pistol fire from Jackson, and the last few were gunned down by Morrison and Donnelly.

"Where the hell is Corman?" Morrison sound quite cross. It also sounded like this was a rather common scenario with the Titan Killer.

Gunfire kept us from speculating on Corman's current whereabouts. Spectres. A lot of them. The IMC certainly loved their drones. Superior armor and more efficient than standard IMC troops. However they were normally no more a threat to a Pilot than a grunt. Of course, in this instance, the quantity slightly outweighed quality. The volume of fire the drones leveled at us forced us into cover. They kept us pinned down and unable to make a counter attack. Brody was able to snipe a few of them, but his weapon's low rate of fire didn't do much to help our situation. Seeing no other option, I was about to toss out my remaining arc grenade. That was before a familiar voice from behind us.

"Let's do this! LEEEERROOOOOOOOOY, JENKIIIIINNNSS!" I took a moment to wonder who Leroy Jenkins was and why she screamed his name at the top of her lungs.

What came next was a volley of fire that began to rip apart the hoard of Spectres, which turned nearly all of its attention toward the machine gun toting crazy person that was screaming a string of profanity as she mowed down the small metal army.

"Fuck you! And Fuck you too! And you, and you, and you! Go suck a fuck, you fuck sticks!" Eloquent. But I couldn't really argue with the results. She didn't take out the entire hoard, but she broke their lines enough for the rest of us to finish them off. When it was done, Corman was left looking rather proud of herself. Morrison, on the other hand, looked quite miffed.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Found some IMC goons hacking a terminal. They spotted me and opened fire. I fired back. Pulled the drive from the terminal." She tosses the unscathed hard drive to Jackson.

"Well, you managed not to shoot it to hell." He quickly examined the drive before stowing it.

I have to admit, she did manage to at least partially complete our goal here, which was to find out what the IMC were doing here. The answers to that may very well be on that drive. Personally, I was rather interested in what they could possibly want with this burnt out husk of a colony.

I would wait to find out. A transmission from our ship put a damper on our small victory.

"We have enemy Titanfall!"

Up until then, I found it odd that we had not encountered any enemy Pilots. A noise like falling flames, crackling a popping through the atmosphere, heralded the things for which Pilots were so named. Titans.

Corman wasted no time in calling in her own. The enemy Titans of course touched down first, forcing us to abandon our position, falling back to give us enough space for us to call down our Titans. Corman, however, rushed off toward the fray, boarding her Ogre class build, armed with a Quad Rocket launcher. A big robot, with a very large gun.

"Time to go to work." Corman's Titan, lurched forward, lumbering toward its targets. Rather reckless, considering there were four enemy Titans against her. I didn't hesitate. As soon as my own Titan was finished, I called it in. Fortunately, I had a Warpfall Transmitter equipped, bringing in my Titan rather quickly with a short range space jump. As soon as it was down, I mounted up.

In comparison, the Stryder was much lighter and quicker than the Ogre, at the cost of armor. I had chosen to equip it with a 40mm Cannon, the closest analogue to my own rifle. The Stryder's higher speed would come in handy for catching up to Corman.

The Titan Killer was engaged with a standard Atlas wielding a chain gun. Her launcher was set up for rapid fire, bombarding her opponent with powerful rockets. However, the Atlas was a bit quicker than her Ogre, able to dodge some of her fire. She was not able to critically damage it before her weapon ran dry, forcing her into a seconds long reloading process that the IMC Titan took advantage of, pelting her with the comparatively small rounds of its chain gun. I quickly moved in behind, taking a few shots at the Atlas. Before it could turn around and counter, I was already out of view, and Corman was able to reload and finish it off.

"Damn, you sure you're new at this?"

"We've still got three more to deal with." I kept focused on the task at hand. There was little time for banter.

"Yeah yeah. Let's take 'em down." At least her priorities were straight.

Two more IMC Titans closed in on us, another Atlas and a Stryder. The latter charged in with a huge, triple-barreled grenade launcher. It fired several volleys, but I was able to catch the grenades with my Titan's Vortex Shield. I held them long enough for Corman to whittle down the IMC Stryder's shields, and once they were gone, I sent the grenades back to it, bringing it down. We pressed forward, double teaming the Atlas, which fell quite quickly from our combined fire.

That just left one more. As we went to hunt it down, my vision was filled with static, my shields depleted. I'd been hit by a shot from an Arc Cannon. Given Corman's close proximity, the blast no doubt arced to her Titan as well. I dashed away from that position, trying to avoid a second blast long enough for my shields to regenerate. For good measure, I fired a cluster missile dissuade pursuit. When my vision cleared, I could see what hit me. An Ogre.

Corman was able to take cover. The Arc Cannon requires a charge time to be effective against Titans, so it meant a slow rate of fire on our opponent's side. But those shots have the added effect of temporarily disorienting us. We needed to smart about going after it. Precise and quick.

Of course the Titan Killer had other ideas. Using her Titan's single dash charge, she rushed the other Ogre, leveling a mighty punch to its optics. While it was stunned, Corman disembarked from her Titan and quickly leaped up onto her opponent, ripping off a piece of armor to get at the internal mechanisms inside. The IMC Titan was too preoccupied with Corman's Ogre to deal with the Titan Killer herself. Her Spitfire tore apart the Ogre's insides, quickly bringing down the Titan's structural integrity. After a few seconds of sustained fire, she jumped off, leaving behind an explosive present. With two taps of a detonator, the damaged mech was engulfed in a rather large and violent explosion.

"Tiiimmbeerrrrr!" At least she wasn't cursing at it. Although, she did give a rather rude gesture.

Her small celebration was cut short, however. With a flash of light, another Titan dropped down right behind her. Sent down via Warpfall. Corman wheeled around, bringing up her machine gun at it. As effective as the weapon was against a Titan's internals, it was not as effective against a Titan's shields.

I didn't hesitate. I fired a few shots at it to gain its attention, but it seemed fixed on Corman, dashing away to give chase to her as she darted off to get a better position. I charged after it, trying to keep a bead on it. But the semi-automatic nature of my cannon kept me from leveling sustained fire on the enemy. Seeing no other options, I decided to take a page from the Alex Corman book of warfare tactics.

I opened up my Titan's hatch and jumped out into its open hand. As per my command, it hurled me through the air toward the enemy Titan. I threw my remaining arc grenade down at it, disorienting it enough for me to land on top of it. Wasting no time, I tore off a bit of armor and shoved my rifle into the hole, firing as fast as I could pull the trigger. When my clip ran dry, I quickly swapped to my auto pistol, unleashing a torrent of bullets into the Titan's internals. Corman was on the ground, diverting the Titan's attention. I emptied two clips into the Titan before it finally fell. I jumped off before the whole thing exploded, sending the pilot inside hurtling into the air as he ejected. Corman and I decided to not let him reach the ground. A quick reload of my rifle, and the two of us fired up at him. He was dead before he hit the ground. I felt a rough slap across my back: a sign of Corman's respect, I suppose.

"Hot damn. You're crazy, girl." High praise coming from the Titan Killer.

"You probably could have taken it. After all, you apparently took down a dozen Titans on your own." It was a bit of backhanded sarcasm. I was rather incredulous about the claim. But seeing her in action, I could almost believe it. Looking back, it was easier to believe than what she said next.

"It was nine."

"What?"

"It was nine Titans. Four them on foot, and I had backup." Modesty. It wasn't something I had expected to hear from her.

"Welp, guess we should get back to the others. Let's go, Deveaux. Heh, I just rhymed."

"Mistral." I spoke, almost without thinking.

"Huh?"

"My first name. It's Mistral."

"Mistral... That's a nice name."

I'm not sure why I volunteered that information. It seemed rather unnecessary. I didn't feel I needed to make any friends in this squad. I wanted to remain professional. But Corman threw me for a loop. Her reputation was misleading, and if I had to be entirely honest, I was mildly fascinated with the Titan Killer, for the sole reason that she was not entirely what she appeared to be. I wasn't about to tell her my life story, but I had decided then that I wasn't completely adverse to the idea of working with her.

It seemed my life was about to get more interesting. And I pilot giant robots for a living.


	3. Chapter 3

When I said my life was about to get more interesting, it turned out to be an incredible understatement.

Alex stumbled into her room, struggling to keep balance. She did quite well, considering I had my legs wrapped around her waist, forcing her to carry me as we assaulted each other's mouths, our tongues entwined in a furious bid for dominance. Even as she pinned me against her wall, I did not allow myself to become submissive, nor did Alex try to be fully dominant. We were both equally frenzied.

I should probably recount how I wound up in this position. True we got on a first name basis rather quickly, but this… could use some explanation. Needless to say, we didn't just jump into each other's arms as soon as we got back to our ship. That would have been quite ridiculous.

After we had returned to the Murder of Crows we turned over the hard drive Alex had recovered to the tech specialists so they and Jackson could figure out what was on it, and why the IMC wanted it. The Murder was a fairly large ship. A little more than half as big as the Redeye, but still large enough to be considered a small, flying city. As such, Pilots' quarters tend to actually be quite large for a military ship. Of course, while the Frontier Militia did follow a chain of command, it was far less formal than a proper military, or pseudo-militaries like the IMC.

The ship has a full compliment of normal infantry, as well as Spectre scouts and general combat Pilots. I suppose I should clarify that the squad I was assigned to is something of a specialist squad. It's small and perfectly geared toward covert work, which is something I was personally good at, which of course was why I was assigned to the squad in the first place. The squad is led by Anna Morrison, with Max Donnelly as her second in command. Generally, we're not on the frontlines, rather investigating IMC activity or countering their own covert ops. However if we are in the area when a full scale assault is happening, we don't just stand by on the sidelines. I guess I impressed the right people to get put on this squad.

In the meantime, we had some down time. No pressing matters to attend to, no dastardly IMC plots to foil. But, there was something of a mystery for me to solve, and it had to do with one Alex Corman.

She was a good soldier, if a bit unrefined, bordering on downright vulgar. Her skills in dealing with enemy Titans were impressive to say the least. But that sort of skill was more suited to frontline warfare rather than covert operations work. True enough, on my first deployment with them, we encountered a rather large force, but it was still nowhere near the kind of firepower we would have faced in a frontline engagement. So, I was curious as to why a solider geared for full combat was assigned to a special ops squad.

The easy answer was that she was there to provide added security and backup. It was an age where giant robots were the norm, after all, and having someone who is an expert and disabling them would useful to have around. However, making assumptions about the Titan Killer has not panned out for me thus far. I wanted to get definitive information as to how Alex wound up with this outfit.

Of course, I didn't really want to ask her directly. I still did not really know much about her. I couldn't really gauge how she would react to me questioning why she assigned to this squad. It might seem like a fairly straight forward question, but I would essentially be going up to her and asking "Why exactly are you here?" If it were me, I would find that quite rude. Yes, this line of thinking does seem unnecessarily complicated and prone to getting me some easily avoidable trouble, but it did not occur to me how vexed I would become due to my decision to not simply ask a few simple questions. Social interaction was not really my forte. I decided to let it go, at least for a little while. I still had to acclimate myself to the Murder, and I wasn't about to waste this time of relative calm.

So, for the next few days, I explored the ship, drawing a mental map of where everything was. Despite some of the corridors looking quite similar, one could tell that his was a Militia ship. Many of the Pilots had personalized the doors to their quarters, and the ships recreational area had felt less like an officer's club and more like a civilian pub. Pilot's quarters, as I had said before, were fairly large with plenty of room to move around and came with personal showers and toilets. And of course there were the window shutters, which can display various 3-D landscapes. They even cycle from night to day. I personally had a rather serene mountain and waterfall. Although, I would have liked to have gotten a view of Paris. I made a note to look for a holo of it later.

I found the waiting to be almost excruciating. I understood that the quiet meant that there weren't any villages being burnt to the ground by the IMC because they had a bit of farm land they wanted. But I didn't really know what to do with myself in the meantime. I didn't have a lot of interests outside of my work. It wasn't particularly healthy, I know. I needed a distraction, and unfortunately, Alex was forefront in my mind. I had managed to suppress it while I was learning my way around the ship, but now, with nothing to do, she had managed to creep back into my thoughts. My curiosity was nagging at me like a small child wanting attention. And I was about to give in.

Of course, I was still disinclined to ask Alex about her assignment directly. Thus, I tended to keep my distance. She waved to me a few times in the mess, but didn't really insist on joining her for any meals. I would avert my eyes most times, only occasionally waving back. After the trust I had placed in her, this behavior on my part was quite unwarranted.

So I decided to go ask Morrison about her. After all, she had a lot of pull as to who was let onto her squad. She might have had some insight as to why Alex had been transferred to her unit.

Morrison had a small room that served as her office. It was rather Spartan in comparison to how some of the other Pilot's say they've decorated they're rooms. Although, I didn't really have anything particularly special in my room either, but I had only just arrived on the ship and didn't really have anything to decorate it with.

The sergeant let me in after I announced myself, simply saying, "Come."

"Deveaux. I was half expecting to see you soon. No doubt you have some questions."

"Actually, yes. I wanted to speak to you about Corman." The sergeant let out an exasperated sigh.

"Has she been making passes at you?" That response flustered me a bit.

"Wha… No! No… I just wanted to ask how she ended up with your unit."

"I see. That sounds like something you ought to ask her yourself." There was a pause as she noticed a pang of uncomfortableness about me. "Ah, I get it. You're afraid of what she might say."

Morrison, it seemed, was good at reading people. It was a valuable trait for a leader. Right now, however, all I could really think about was trying to come up with some kind of denial to her claim. I couldn't find one that didn't sound ridiculously obvious.

"I… didn't want to offend her."

"So you now you're trying to get information on her behind her back?" Merde she could be blunt. She can also make you realize when you're being rather stupid.

"I should just talk to her, shouldn't I?"

"That would be a good start." She gave a bit of a smirk, like she knew something she wasn't telling. I saluted her then left.

Even after a few days, I was still attempting to avoid Alex. At this point, this action would probably be considered ruder than any question that I might have asked her. However, now I was avoiding her for an entirely different reason. What Morrison had said, it had me thinking about why Alex kept crawling into my thoughts. Part of me gravitated toward a rather obvious answer, but the more logical part of my brain refused to give in to that notion.

Frustration set in. My impotence in asking a simple question of a comrade was utterly pathetic. To make matters worse, all the waiting was beginning to cause me to go mildly stir crazy, so much so that I had to relieve my frustration in a rather unbecoming way.

The problem with masturbation, though, is that no matter what you might be fantasizing, if there's something, or rather someone, you've been unable to get out of your head, then that person ends up working their way into your fantasies. Needless to say, I was quite embarrassed at that. I didn't even get to finish, either. I was even more frustrated than I was before.

I needed to talk to her, and quickly, before I ended up doing something rash.

"Hey, Misty, what's up?" I nearly jumped when spoke from behind me.

"Oh… um… I just wanted to…" It was at that moment that the logical part of my brain decided to abandon ship.

I grabbed her by the head, pulling my lips into hers so fast and so hard it was almost painful. In a matter of seconds, we were engaged in a crazed torrent of lust. Calling what we were doing kissing just doesn't cover it. If there were other people watching, we weren't aware of them, nor were we really inclined to care.

This brings us back to where we started off. Stumbling into Alex's room, with me in her arms, my legs wrapped around her. Modesty was not really important at that moment. But just because I was pinned against a wall, it didn't mean I was about to play the submissive, sexually confused French girl.

I pushed off the wall, causing Alex to somewhat lose her balance. This forced her backwards, sending us both down onto her bed. It was rather fortunate that it was right there. Otherwise this could have ended quite quickly.

I was on top, straddling her. After what seemed like minutes, we broke contact, but only to facilitate the swift removal of our clothing. She pulled my top off, quickly discarding it. As she went to undo my bra, she leaned down, kissing my chest, lavishing me with her attention. Even though I knew that this was a purely impulsive act that goes against my normally very rational mind, I couldn't help but feel relieved that Alex did not reject my sudden affection.

Our clothing rained off the side of the bed, soon leaving us completely bare, leaving nothing between us. In the brief moments before we once again became consumed with each other, I saw Alex. All of her. Her body was a roadmap of warfare. Half faded scars marred an otherwise perfect body. She was beautiful in her own way.

I had little time to take in the sights as I found myself on my back, Alex kissing me deeply once more. But, there was something different about it. Something I could really put my finger on. I wasn't exactly in a position to really focus on it, however.

I felt her leg brush against my sex, which elicited a small gasp from me, muffled as it was by Alex's own mouth. She shifted her position, straddling me in a missionary position. Neither of us was in any sort of mindset to come up with anything more elaborate. When she began grinding against me, I lost all sense of anything besides the pleasure she was giving me.

When her mouth moved from my own down to my neck, my moans became suddenly unstifled. The small part of my mind that could still think logically thanked that these rooms were virtually sound proof. If they were not, then everyone on our deck would have probably heard us. Well, heard me anyways. I don't know how, but Alex was mostly quiet, the most noise she made being some heavy breathing. Of course, her mouth stayed firmly glued various parts of my body for a large portion of the encounter.

I, on the other hand, was not so restrained. I moaned, panted, cursed… my restraint was gone, whittled away by mild cabin fever and sexual frustration, both of which were in the process of being cured.

Her pace was furious, yet rhythmic. She was rough, yet she was not dominating. Her dichotomous performance only made me more curious about this seemingly straight forward and simple woman. If the small glimmers I had seen were any indication, she was anything but straight forward and simple. It was maddening. I resolved then and there that if I didn't simply fall asleep from exhaustion, I would talk to her. Really talk.

What little cohesion my mind had melted away as I got closer to what promised to be an explosive climax. My moans had been replaced by fast, deep breaths that could have seemed to someone listening that I was having some sort of fit. And when I finally came, I was not modest about it. It was loud and irreverent, and I didn't care.

I greedily gasped for air, trying to replace the oxygen I had lost in the throes of the passionate tryst that had taken place between Alex and I. The Titan killer rolled off me nonchalantly. If she came, she didn't really show it. Although, she did have a rather smug look on her face. It was a good natured smugness though.

After my breathing finally returned to normal, I tried to think of something to say. All I could come up with was…

"So, I suppose we should talk."


	4. Chapter 4

We lied in Alex's bed for a short while before I began asking my questions. It was only after the logical side of my mind returned that I began to contemplate on the bed itself. It was quite comfortable, definitely not standard military issue. Of course, the Militia wasn't exactly a standard military. In any case, Alex must have put away a bit of money to get it. My own room only had a simple cot. I would have to ask her where she got her bed.

The air suddenly became filled with the scent of mint and blueberries. I looked to my side to see a small cloud of white vapor. After a second puff, Alex offered up the electronic cigarette, which I took after a moment's hesitation. I took a tentative puff, easing into the slight burn of the nicotine and mint. After a longer draw, I breathed out the vaporized solution, feeling quite relaxed. I briefly wondered whether she had anything other than nicotine and flavored vapor solution in it.

"Well, I'd say that I never would have expected this from you, but to be fair, I don't really know you all that well," Alex joked. I simply rolled my eyes.

"I am usually more in control of myself than this. I think all this waiting around drove me a bit stir crazy."

"A bit? You latched onto my face like one of those face-huggers from that old alien flick. Can't remember what it was called…"

"Alien," I answered, handing her back the e-cig.

"Okay, that's totally unoriginal." She takes a long draw before continuing. "I mean, we invented the fish taco, you'd think we could come up with a better name for an alien movie than 'Alien.'"

I resisted the urged to roll my eyes at what Alex considered an example of human ingenuity. She either had simple tastes, or had an incredible ability to enjoy the little things. I could not really fault her for that. To each their own, as they say.

"So. We gonna make a habit outta this?"

The seriousness in her tone caught me off guard. It was almost a complete 180 to her previous attitude. I then quietly chastised myself for making an assumption on her character without truly knowing her. As to the question itself, the answer was not an easy one. At least not at that moment. There were too many thoughts swimming around my head. I was still trying to discern my feelings on this whole ordeal. And to Alex's credit, she was quite patient with me. She seemed to notice how twisted up I was about what had transpired. I was thankful for that.

"This was a spur of the moment thing, born of frustration." She gave simple nod before I clarified. "But... I did... enjoy it."

"So, that's a maybe? Fair enough."

"I wanted to talk to you. I was curious about your assignment here."

"Wanna know what a bruiser like me is doing on a specialist squad?"

"Yes... I... didn't want to offend you. You are most certainly very talented."

"Heh, thanks. Look, I get why you'd think I'd make an ill fit for an outfit like this. Ever since I could pronounce the word, I always wanted to pilot a Titan. I mean, they were just so awesome, you know? I joined the Militia as soon as I was old enough. Turned out I was pretty good at piloting giant robots, and even better at taking them down. I fought on the front lines for a good while, until Demeter and Graves. I guess I felt I needed to put my skills to better use than pushing back IMC forces that were already pushed back. Nowadays the IMC's main military bulk is more of a distraction for their covert ops. So, when Anna scouted me, I jumped at the chance."

That made a whole lot of sense. It was as I suspected, she was transferred to this squad as added muscle. But her motivations for joining were a bit more than I had expected. Behind all that bravado and gruffness lied a rather sharp and logical mind. This only reaffirmed to me that I could not judge her by what lied on the surface.

"I see."

"If you don't mind me asking, why'd you decide to become a Titan pilot?"

"I... I'm not entirely sure." I was not really prepared to answer that question. Partially because it stems from something I had been hiding. Something that I hadn't really told anyone since becoming combat certified. Something that I did not expect to be telling someone I only met a week and a half ago.

I reached over the edge of the bed to my discarded clothing, fishing out my dog tags. Finding them, I brought them up so Alex could see them clearly. With a small movement of my thumb, I slid out a concealed tab, revealing a chip with a red symbol on it and a letter 'G' and the number '2.'

"Oh... shit."

She recognized the chip immediately. It marked me as a Generation 2 Titan Pilot. This meant that I had been... rebuilt. All the battle fatigue, scars, and old lingering injuries were washed away, restoring me to the peak of physical health. Not only that, but I was smarter, faster than before. However, the cost of such regeneration... was my memories. Before the Militia, there was nothing. Family, friends, I have no recollection of anything in my life. As far as I knew, I had always been a soldier.

"When I said I gotten certified as a Pilot, I suppose it would be more accurate to say I had gotten re-certified. I suppose that is why I chose to be come a Pilot... but I have no idea as to why I would become one in the first place."

"Damn. Hey, look, I don't care about that crap. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

I gave her a small nod, silently thanking her. Having gotten what I had been looking for... and a bit more... I decided it was time to take my leave. I gathered my clothes and began to dress myself. Alex seemed content simply lying in her bed stark naked.

"I'd ask you to keep quiet about this, but I have a feeling rumors have already started." It didn't really take long for rumors to spread like wildfire through ships like this. Besides, I didn't really look to see if anyone was around to witness me attacking Alex's face.

"If people hear it, it won't be from me." Again, I silently thanked her for her discretion.

I cracked open her door, checking for anyone in the corridor. Satisfied no one was around to see me, I slipped out and headed toward my own quarters. As a left, I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied. Not because I had not gotten what I wanted, but because I was now more curious about the Titan Killer than ever. This curiosity stemmed from my confusion as to why exactly I trusted her enough to divulge the truth of my regeneration. I had to be more careful. I didn't need working with Alex to be awkward. I had firmly decided she was worthy of my respect. In the very least, I needed to have her back, just as she had mine.

Now I was sounding melodramatic. I think I needed to soak my head in cold water. For... multiple reasons. Hopefully, something, anything, would come up that demanded the attention of our team. Perhaps Jackson will finally have the drive we found decrypted.


End file.
